Russia v Liechtenstein background

Russia will hope for a gentle introduction to UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying as they take on Liechtenstein for the fifth time in Group G.

Match background
• Russia's record in four games against Liechtenstein is W4 D0 L0 (W2 D0 L0 at home – W2 D0 L0 away), averaging exactly two goals a game in those fixtures. This will be the sides' first meeting in the UEFA European Championship.

• The teams have been paired twice in FIFA World Cup qualifying; Aleksandr Kerzhakov (23) and Andrei Karyaka (37) put Russia in the driving seat on 26 March 2005 in their first meeting in the 2006 qualifying competition, only for Thomas Beck's free-kick (40) to give Liechtenstein hope. Indeed, it took a fine Vyacheslav Malafeev save from Mario Frick to deny the home side a point. It was more plain sailing in the return leg on 3 September 2005, Kerzhakov (27, 66) scoring both goals in a 2-0 home win.

• In qualifying for the 2010 finals, Russia once more had a hard time in Vaduz on 1 April 2009, Guus Hiddink's side unable to add to Konstantin Zyryanov's 38th-minute opener in a 1-0 win. However, the return fixture in St Petersburg proved to be more straightforward, Roman Pavlyuchenko scoring two penalties (39, 45) after Vasili Berezutski (17) had broken the deadlock.

• The nations' only meetings in UEFA age-group tournaments both ended in 6-0 wins for Russia's Under-19s – in 2003 and 2006.